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Flu virus tests at a laboratory in Spain. - Photo Stock

Pre-Pandemic Vaccine at the Forefront in Bird Flu Fight

Scientists around the globe are working around the clock in search of vaccines that could improve the human immunological response to a potential flu pandemic.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Beneficial Uses of Tobacco

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Cuban scientists announced they are studying the extraction of solanesol from tobacco plants, in a search for additional benefits to the island's famous industry of hand-rolled cigars. The extract is the precursor of an antioxidant with anti-carcinogen properties.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Catholic Cardinal Urges Against Giving In to Gold

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Catholic Cardinal Oscar Andrés Rodríguez has exhorted the executive and legislative branches of the Honduran government not to give in to pressure from the transnational mining corporations that want to expand open pit mining in this Central American country.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Responsible Fishing Code Not Applied

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Argentine environmental group Fundación Vida Silvestre warns that there is a gap between the local fishing reality and the Code of Conduct for Responsible Fishing, of the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency.

The gray whale is threatened in the Asian Pacific - Claudio Contreras

Vote Buying at International Whaling Meet?

By Diego Cevallos and - -

Japan allegedly tried to bribe Central American countries ahead of the International Whaling Commission meeting to support an end to the moratorium on commercial whale hunting. Honduras and Guatemala deny there was any such pressure.

Disasters Undercut Millennium Development Goals

By Patricia Grogg and - -

The social and economic impacts of natural disasters are increasing, warn experts. In Cuba alone, hurricanes resulted in losses of 2.3 billion dollars in 2005.

Ecobreves – GLOBAL: Marine Bio-Riches in Danger

By IPS Correspondents and - -

Fishing worldwide is growing so quickly that it has surpassed the regulating capacity of institutions, making it urgent to adopt new conservation measures, says a report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: A Bid to Put Brakes on Transgenic Cotton

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Brazilian Ministry of Environment is trying to prevent the legalization of planting Bollgard genetically modified cotton, and has asked the National Technical Commission on Biosafety to revise the authorization for its commercial cultivation, issued a year ago.

Greenpeace activists block a soybean shipping port in the Amazon. - Greenpeace

Soybean Exporters in Greenpeace's Sights

By Stephen Leahy and - -

The international environmental group blames Cargill and other agricultural multinational corporations for deforestation in the Amazon, and charges that construction of new highways, like BR-163, will encourage more logging to clear land for soybean fields.

Troubled Waters Between Honduras and El Salvador

By Thelma Mejía and - -

Border communities oppose the proposed binational El Tigre dam, which would flood 72 square kilometers. But officials say the project would prevent future conflicts between the two Central American countries about water.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Award for Worst Polluting Businessman

By IPS Correspondents and - -

On Jun. 5, World Environment Day, the eco-watchdog Greenpeace awarded its 2006 Environmental "Condorazo" Prize to magnate Anacleto Angelini, accused of being responsible for ecological disasters caused by pulp mill factories in southern Chile.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Guaraná's Secrets to Be Revealed

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Amazonian Legal Network of Genomic Research, REALGENE, made up of seven universities and three research centers in the region, deciphered the useful part of the genome of guaraná (Paullinia cupana), a fruit found exclusively in the Brazilian Amazon.

Ecobreves – GUATEMALA: Use Water Filters!

By IPS Correspondents and - -

The Guatemalan association Afaguatemala is promoting the use of a low-cost, artisanal filter to purify water, says the inventor, Gernando Mazariegos.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Artificial Rain from Potable Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -

A method developed in Brazil and approved by the southern states of Sao Paulo and Santa Catarina, will produce artificial rains by seeding clouds with potable water, free of chemical products.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: 100 Million Plants for El Avila

By IPS Correspondents and - -

El Avila mountain, which separates the Venezuelan capital from the Caribbean coast and is the center of a national park covering 85,000 hectares, will have 100 million plants cultivated on its slopes as part of the government program known as Misión Arbol (Mission Tree).